Reportage
Fires in France: the Flots Bleus campsite ravaged by flames, quite a symbol
The Flots Bleus campsite partly devastated by the fire in Gironde, July 19, 2022. © Simon Rozé - RFI
Text by: RFI Follow
5 mins
It has been more than a week now that two fires have been ravaging the south of the Gironde department, in France.
19,300 hectares burned: this is the assessment at 9 p.m. this Tuesday, July 19.
Fires that are still not fixed as say the firefighters who despite their efforts are unable to protect everything.
The losses are great, and a desperate solution is enacted.
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Our special correspondent at La Teste-de-Buche,
Simon Rozé
, has the impression of walking on coal, while the Pilat dune opposite is magnificent.
The famous Flots Bleus campsite was ravaged by fire despite the efforts of the firefighters.
Commander Matthieu Jomain expresses his frustration: “
We are in front of a campsite which is unfortunately part of the material balance sheet despite two protective actions.
The fire won on this part.
There is an element of frustration, that's for sure.
But fortunately, the human toll is blank and somewhere, this is what takes precedence in our operational logic.
»
A fridge full of cans devastated by the flames at the Flots Bleus campsite, July 19, 2022. © Simon Rozé - RFI
Pair of forgotten melted flip-flops, gutted mobile homes, leftover lunch on a table, an exploded gas cylinder, a real missile planted in the middle of the dune, tens of meters away... So many snapshots of the evacuation and the violence of the blaze.
“
Our staff were simply faced with a 40-50 meter high wall of flames.
It's unheard of
, ”describes the captain.
We will rebuild our campsite!
pic.twitter.com/QvUQJkiHPS
— franckdubosc (@dubosc_franck) July 18, 2022
The Flots Bleus campsite was a symbol.
A series of popular films had been shot there for the town of La Teste de Buch.
The blow is hard.
Patrick Davet, its mayor: “
It's heartbreaking because I know all of these people in particular.
I am saddened for them.
Economically, it will be very difficult for them and very difficult for the municipality.
We are a tourist city and the season, we need it.
We will think, we will get up.
Even if, he admits, it will take between 20 and 30 years for the Pilat forest to become green again.
A technique of last resort
To try to limit this kind of damage, there are traditional means, giant water pumps, canadairs, Dash planes... But faced with the scale of these fires which are still progressing, another technique has just been be put in place, reports our special correspondent in Gironde,
Sylvie Koffi
.
A more radical technique: felling healthy trees.
A difficult decision to make for Bruno Lafon, president of the association for the defense of forests against fire: “
Since the start, the firefighters have been running after the fire.
So what is being done, with the requisition of the prefect, is to create fire stopping distances that are greater than what exists today.
You have seen, we are at the edge of a road, there is the distance of the road and we will make a distance of 30 to 40, even 50 meters in certain places so that when the fire will arrive, it can be stopped once and for all
.
»
Flames rise on a forest fire near Louchats, as the fires continue to spread in the Gironde region, southwestern France, July 18, 2022. REUTERS - POOL
The hardest thing is that we are not even sure that it will work, he admits.
“
We hope so, but here we have reached a point where we are cutting down healthy trees with technical cuts to be able to make firewalls, which are not sufficient so far.
Fire is a real octopus.
There is not one head of fire, there are several.
Today, we have reached the point of making this decision which is difficult for us, which is heartbreaking
, ”sighs the president.
Felling and cutting of growing trees to create firebreak zones to help firefighters in Gironde, July 19, 2022. © Sylvie Koffi - RFI
A heartbreak shared by those who cut the trunks.
This forestry worker hired on these sites finds it difficult to sacrifice growing trees: “
It's a bit silly all the same.
All because of someone, maybe who set the fire, we don't know.
It's ridiculous, it sends shivers when I arrived this morning and when you see a beautiful forest, then all of a sudden, there's nothing left...
"
A difficult decision to make, with one and the same objective: bare ground to prevent any new outbreak of fire.
►
To read also: Climate: faced with the fire which is progressing in Gironde, the inhabitants and the tourists evacuated
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